Producing biofuels, such as biodiesel, bioethanol, and/or biogasoline, from renewable energy sources provides numerous benefits. Increasing costs, increasing difficulty of extraction, and depletion of known fossil fuel reserves help to spur the development of alternative fuel supplies. Efforts have been made to develop renewable energy fuels such as ethanol from corn grain or biodiesel from canola, rapeseed and other sources. The amount of biofuel that can be derived from food plant materials is often limited and the underlying increase in food commodity prices often negatively impacts food availability in developing countries and food prices in the developed world.
Efforts are underway to generate biofuels from non-food materials, such as cellulosic ethanol from wood pulp, corn stover or sugar cane bagasse. Algae and other photosynthetic microorganisms can provide feedstock for biofuel synthesis.